Jodi: I’m Jodi, and I have been involved in Fire and EMS services since 1997. Back in 2015, I was training for the Twin Cities Marathon, and I started developing some hip discomfort early on in the training and I attributed it to overuse. Got to a point where it was not getting any better, and so I made an appointment with a physician and another practicing group, and they did an MRI and some X-rays, and diagnosed me with a labral tear and said it needed to be fixed. They did an initial surgery in the Fall of 2015.

About four months after the initial surgery, I started to develop similar discomfort. Difficult to sit, difficult to lay down, difficult with high impact activities that didn’t go away with rest. Ice, kind of the typical home remedies.

So, I went back to the same physician. They re-MRI’ed it and said it was just a bone bruise, and that it would, I would need rest and to heal on it’s own.

So, I ran into a friend of mine at the gym one day, who had this crazy looking brace on and was on crutches, and I had asked her what had been done. And she had said that she had a labral tear. I remarked that, well they didn’t put me in any of that, and I was full weight bearing right after my first surgery. She had kind of a shocked look on her face, said this was not how it should have been done. And she had finally said, you know after some discussion of how I was still dealing with the discomfort, that maybe I should see Dr. Skendzel, because this is what he does and he’s an expert in it.

And so, I kind of threw it back and forth that I didn’t want to see another doctor because I didn’t want to have to deal with more potential surgeries. I didn’t want to have to be laid up anymore, but it did get to the point with not being able to do the things I was doing without discomfort.

So, I met with Dr. Skendzel, I believe it was in August of ’16. Who [inaudible 00:01:52] very welcoming. I think he understood where my frustration were, that I already had one surgery and I’m still dealing with some issues. When I came in, they ordered new X-rays, did a comparison. He looked at the MRI and said there’s a bigger problem here. And at first, he wasn’t sure if the labral tissue was missing or if it was flapped over, but it indicated that it was something that needed to be fixed and it needed to be fixed sooner than later, because ultimately, it was gonna potentially impact my career and my lifestyle. And especially being an active person, and an active mom and wife, that’s pretty important to me. And so, it was difficult to hear that I needed to have a second surgery, but it was something that clearly had to be done.

Dr. Skendzel: When I first saw Jodi, she had had a arthroscopic hip surgery with another doctor. She had done the rehabilitation, but she wasn’t just getting better. And in fact, she was getting worse. In reviewing her X-rays and MRI, her diagnosis was one of FAI, or Femoroacetabular impingement. So, that basically means that whether it’s genetic or developmental, or just your own body’s shape, but she had a little bit too much bone on the edge of the socket, and also a little bit on top of the ball.

And so, that creates a mechanical impingement between the ball and the socket, and it’s the labrum that gets caught in between. And over time, chronic repetitive impingement precipitates the labral tear.

Jodi: What comforted me is that he explained everything. He really got in to deep detail of what was going on inside of that joint and what the potential was for the actual fix. So whether it was a labral repair or it was taking part of my IT band, or a cadaver IT band, and giving me a new labrum, cleaning up the joint and the bone spurs that were there.

He explained everything in detail from what the surgery was going to be, what was going to be done afterwards, what physical therapy was going to be like, how long I was going to be non-weight bearing. He was very detailed in the whole process and that there was gonna be an abundance of people that were involved in my care, and not just here I’m going to go cut and you can figure out the rest on your own. There was a very strong team dynamic.

Dr. Skendzel: So, it was clear for Jodi that the stakes were high. She needed a good hip to not only enjoy her recreational pursuits, running and just being active outdoors, but also for her job. She had to have a good hip.

So, after talking about all of the options available, we did decide to proceed with a revision arthroscopic hip surgery. And in her case, once we were in the hip, it was clear that there was not good labral tissue remaining. So, we had to proceed with the reconstruction.

My job as an arthroscopic hip surgeon is to get patients back to an active lifestyle without hip and groin pain. And I’m proud to say that we can do that here at Summit, because of the relationship we’ve developed with the surgery center, with the physical therapists, with our patients giving us feedback. And because of the volume that we do, confident in saying you can have an outstanding experience here, and hopefully, leave the groin pain behind and get back to an active lifestyle.

Jodi: There isn’t enough appreciation out there for what he’s been able to do. It’s given me back, essentially, my life. I don’t have the discomfort that did. I’m able to do almost more than I was able to do before. He’s a fabulous surgeon and I wouldn’t go anywhere else after this experience.

“An active lifestyle requires superior physical function, and I understand that my patients have exceptionally high standards for their performance and joint health. My goal is to return patients to optimal function so that they can continue to perform and master their personal athletic goals.”

Summit Orthopedics provides the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota with comprehensive orthopedic care. Our expert team of physicians, surgeons, physician assistants, certified athletic trainers, and therapists are available at a clinic location near you.

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